


Un Bel Di

by LydianNode



Series: A Life At the Opera [1]
Category: Bohemian Rhapsody (Movie 2018), Queen (Band)
Genre: End of Relationship, Gen, Implied Cheating, implied sexual relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-07
Updated: 2019-01-07
Packaged: 2019-10-05 20:57:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 626
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17332214
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LydianNode/pseuds/LydianNode
Summary: "What do the words mean?"Mary Austin wants to know the story of one of Freddie's favourite arias.





	Un Bel Di

Mary hears "Un Bel Di" for the first time at Freddie's flat. At the time she finds it odd that a rock musician would love opera so much, but as she gets to know Freddie better it starts to make more sense. 

Opera is life played out on an enormous stage, with enormous voices that ring out like bells, with gaudy costumes and vast set pieces. It's artifice. It's beautiful. It's Freddie.

Mary asks him once, when they're listening to the perfect strains of melody after he makes love to her: "What do the words mean?" But his answer is silence. He kisses her on the breast, on the lips, on the forehead. He's not one for explanations, her Freddie. 

*** 

She asks Freddie again, when he has given her a ring and a promise, and they are listening to the album the night before he goes on tour. "What do the words mean?" 

"It's about a woman waiting patiently for her lover to come back from a journey," he tells her, and she's comforted. She listens to it whilst Queen is conquering foreign lands. She hums it at work, when she's feeding the cats, when she's waiting for Freddie to call from a phone booth. When she's waiting. When she's waiting. 

*** 

The third time Mary asks, she knows better than to inquire of Freddie. 

She is standing amongst boxes and books. Freddie has shut himself in the bedroom, weeping, with the stereo's volume turned up. John - patient, reliable Deacy - has come over to help her move back to her father's house. 

She hadn't asked Brian or Roger. 

Brian and Mary had dated for a while, before Freddie, but she found him unexciting. Brian never brings it up. Mary is reasonably certain that he wouldn't judge her - or worse, pity her - but she's too fragile to take that risk. 

Roger is just too self-absorbed to be trusted not to say something inappropriate and ridiculous. It wouldn't be out of malice, of course, but the pain would have been too great a price for a few hours' heavy lifting. 

John is quieter and more private than the others, which suits her needs today. He silently labels boxes in his square, tidy handwriting, takes them down to the car, then comes back to organise another pile. When strains of "Un Bel Di" float into the sitting room, he shakes his head and winces. 

"You know this song?"

"Yes. My father likes...liked...opera."

Mary and John share the too-early loss of a parent. They both know that the scar never heals. She changes the subject, partly to spare him and partly because she's curious about how much he knows. "What do the words mean?" 

John caps the marking pen and sits on his heels. He looks at his own hands as he says, "It's about a woman who believes with all her heart that her lover will return." 

So, Freddie told her the truth. 

"Does he?" 

"Mary, don't..." 

Mary crouches down next to him. She ducks her head, meets his cloudy-day-grey eyes. "Does he come back to her?" 

John sighs. "He does...but by then he's married to someone else." 

So, Freddie told her part of the truth. 

Mary wants to ask if there's an unexpected, miraculous happy ending, but she knows that operas don't work that way. 

Suddenly, dramatically, Freddie is standing in the doorway, dressed in black, mascara running down his face. He holds his hands out to Mary, who takes them. She lets him hold tightly to her, tears raining down as they whisper their farewells. 

_Dear one. Little wife. Orange blossom._

John tiptoes away with the last of the boxes in his arms. He'll be spared having to tell her the end of the story.

**Author's Note:**

> I've started a Tumblr! Find me here: lydiannode.tumblr.com .


End file.
